FYI: The River Nile

Shira Yehudit Djlilmand

The River Nile played a pivotal role in the story of the Jews’ redemption from Mitzrayim. It saved Moshe Rabbeinu when he was a baby, it turned to blood to punish the Mitzrim, and the first two plagues came about after Aaron struck it with his staff. Let’s find out more about this amazing river.

Wednesday, April 04, 2012

Even though only about a fifth of the length of the Nile runs through Egypt, in most people’s minds, the Nile is associated with Egypt. Many of Egypt’s most important cities - and most of its population – are situated along its banks. Because there is almost no rain in Egypt, until the Aswan Dam was built, the people relied entirely on the yearly floods of the Nile to grow their crops. Every year, heavy rains in the mountains of Ethiopia would surge down the Nile, overflowing the banks in Egypt and leaving behind a thick, rich black mud, in which the Egyptians would plant seeds. In fact, so important was the flooding of the Nile that it was worshipped by the Ancient Egyptians as a god. (See Rashi, Shemos 7:17)